


there was a good man named paul revere

by isengard



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, beach sunsets and other summer cliches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 05:14:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15599082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isengard/pseuds/isengard
Summary: i feel much better baby when you're nearKanata feels that twist in his stomach again, and suddenly he knows exactly what it means, and what he wants to do about it.written for Ensemble Stars Summer Secret Santa 2018





	there was a good man named paul revere

**Author's Note:**

> for @saltysugi, the prompt was "kanata shutting chiaki up with a kiss". i haven't written these two before so i don't have the best grip on their voices, but i hope you like it!

The sun is just starting to touch the horizon when Kanata hears footsteps jogging up behind him, feels the thin shower of sand kicked up by Chiaki’s feet against the skin of his back where his shirt’s ridden up. He’s relieved, first, and then a little bit annoyed.

“I thought you weren’t going to come,” he says, glancing sideways at Chiaki. 

It might be unfair of him to say, since they’ve never exactly made plans to meet here. Their first meeting at this beach was coincidental, at the start of summer vacation, their second had been planned when Kanata enlisted Chiaki’s help to drag Shu out of his workshop and into the fresh air. Kanata isn’t sure how many times they’ve met here since then, but it’s been every day except the rainy ones for the past couple of weeks. Sometimes they share ice cream. There’s probably a reason for it, Kanata thinks, something beyond their unit solidarity and tentatively close friendship. More and more, it feels like there’s something unspoken between them, a shared secret that vanishes into the sea every night with the setting sun.

Or, Chiaki is just trying to be a good leader. That idea leave a bitter taste in Kanata’s mouth, though. Rather like the feeling he’d had when he thought Chiaki wasn’t coming tonight.

“Sorry!” Chiaki says, the smile on his face at odds with his words. Chiaki is contrary in a lot of ways, Kanata has learned. It was confusing initially, but he’s decided that he likes it, much like Chiaki himself. “I was washing up after dinner, and I kind of lost track of time! My cousins are visiting, so there were lots more dishes than there usually are.”

Kanata supposes he can accept that. He sighs. “You’re a good person, Chiaki. I’ll forgive you.”

Chiaki grins even more brilliantly, and Kanata feels something twist hot in his stomach. His toes squish deeper into the sand, seeking out the places where it’s cool and damp and comfortable.

Then he notices something else. “You didn’t bring ice cream.”

“Ah, was I supposed to? My bad.” Chiaki looks momentarily pained, and then his face lights up again. “We can get some afterwards! I’ll walk you home, there’s a shop on the way, isn’t there?”

There is. Kanata nods his approval, and looks back at the horizon. The sun is starting to sink into it now, sending dark shadows across the water and golden reflections across the sand. 

He feels something tug at him, deep inside, not unlike the longing he feels when he looks out at the sea, the sinking in his heart when the tide draws out, taking pieces of him with it. The day is coming to an end, like the summer is. Soon they’ll start school again, and Kanata won’t have the freedom to sit here and watch the sun disappear into the ocean, won’t be able to anchor his feet into the sand and feel the earth slipping out from under him, grain by grain. Their secret, too - whatever it is that keeps Chiaki coming back here, and keeps Kanata waiting for him, will end.

“I kind of wanted ice cream too, so I’m glad you thought of that, Kanata!” Chiaki is saying, oblivious to Kanata’s preoccupation. “I got some money from my aunt and uncle, so I’ll buy whatever flavor you like, okay?”

Kanata makes a face. Chiaki laughs. “Don’t be like that,” he says, elbowing Kanata playfully.

Kanata feels strange. He _does_ want ice cream. He doesn’t know why he’s resisting.

“I have money too, Chiaki,” he says. He thinks he does, anyways. If he has his wallet, and didn’t leave it back in his room with the phone he hasn’t charged in four days. “You don’t have to pay for me.”

“I know, but I want to,” Chiaki replies. His knee bumps against Kanata’s. “You should let me. It’ll be like a date.”

Kanata stares at their knees for a moment, processing, and then slowly turns to look at Chiaki’s face.

Chiaki’s eyes are very wide. He laughs, but it’s a hesitant, wavering sound, and Kanata dislikes it at once. “Wow!” he says. “That came out really weird, didn’t it? I just meant - a friends-hanging-out-date, like an occasion, a plan to just get together with your friends, you know?”

Even in the fading light, his cheeks are visibly red. Kanata feels that twist in his stomach again, and suddenly he knows exactly what it means, and what he wants to do about it.

“I was just trying to say that I can buy your ice cream, right, because we’re friends? Aren’t we? We’re friends and we’re also teammates! I mean, I’m your leader - ”

“Chiaki,” Kanata says, impatient.

“ - and I would never do anything to abuse that position, to you or any of the other members, because that would be totally not heroic and super inappropriate, which is why I definitely didn’t mean that the way it sounded - ”

“Chiaki - ”

“ - because I would never want to mess up our unit dynamic, especially when I think we’re really starting to click - but I want to keep hanging out like this, with you - that’s okay, right? We’re good?”

Chiaki sounds a little breathless. The sun is halfway down, and the light on the beach is fading. Kanata plants his hand in the sand behind Chiaki’s back and leans closer.

“Chiaki,” he says again. “Are you done?”

“I can keep going!” Chiaki says immediately. “If you want me to.”

Kanata says, “Hold still.”

Chiaki does, miraculously. His eyes drop to Kanata’s mouth as Kanata leans closer, which is good, Kanata thinks, it’s a sign that what he’s about to do will be well received. He keeps his eyes open, which allows him to see the moment Chiaki’s eyelids flutter shut, at the same time that he feels a tremorous intake of breath, and then he presses his lips to Chiaki’s and kisses him.

It tastes like....

“Watermelon,” Kanata says, drawing back. He doesn’t know what he thought Chiaki would taste like, but it wasn’t that.

“Oh...yeah, I was chewing gum on my way here,” Chiaki says. His face is radiating heat, Kanata can feel it even with the cool breeze blowing in from the darkening sea. “I like the fruity flavors….I just think they’re better.”

“Hmm,” Kanata says. “Let me taste it again.”

Chiaki swallows. “Okay.”

Chiaki meets him halfway this time, kissing the taste of his gum off Kanata’s lips, breathing it into his mouth. Kanata didn’t know he had any expectations for this kind of thing, but it feels _good_ , it feels natural to reach out and find Chiaki’s lips already waiting for him, to feel the brush of his nose and the tiny pricks of stubble on his chin. He smiles into the kiss, warm and pleased and buzzing with feelings and thoughts that he finally understands.

“Kanata,” Chiaki says, pulling back again. “Is this - I mean you know this isn’t something people do when they’re just friends - ”

Kanata kisses him again, a little more forcefully. His hand comes up off the sand and he moves it to Chiaki’s thigh, fingers digging gently into the mesh of his basketball shorts. The sand under his toes is cool, and the body under his hands is hot. Kanata wants to press into them both.

“I guess you know,” Chiaki says sheepishly, once they break apart again. His smile is nervous, but his teeth gleam in the last of the fading sunlight, and his eyes are full of an emotion Kanata doesn’t dare to put a name to.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Kanata tells him. He scoots closer and leans his head on Chiaki’s shoulder to watch the last of the sunset.

Chiaki tenses up for a moment, but relaxes when Kanata gives his thigh another squeeze. “I might,” he says, placing his hand over Kanata’s. “If you’re gonna tell me like that.”

Kanata hums acknowledgingly. “Buy me ice cream after this, and I will.”

He can feel Chiaki’s grin at the crown of his head. “Deal!”

Some minutes later, the sun finally vanishes over the horizon, taking with it the last of the glow on the beach. Chiaki shows no sign of wanting to leave, so Kanata anchors his feet back into the sand and lets the smell of the ocean, the sound of the waves, the taste of the salt in the air and the artificial fruity flavor of Chiaki’s breath wash over him.

“Tell me if you get cold,” Chiaki says, into his hair.

Kanata laughs. Maybe, with Chiaki’s warmth next to him, the summer doesn’t have to end after all.

**Author's Note:**

> there's only [one summer anthem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHuGG_FsC20) i listened to while writing this


End file.
